by Isi Esene

Shehu Sani, the President of the Civil Rights Congress, a human rights group based in Kaduna, has attributed the rift between President Goodluck Jo9mnathan and former president Olusegun Obasabjo to the handling of the Boko Haram terrorist crisis.

He said Obasanjo is not particularly happy that the president has refused to heed his advise after making efforts to bring peace into the polity by visiting the families of leaders of the Islamic sect in a bid to negotiate with them in Maiduguri.

Sani reportedly said, “Their  (Obasanjo and Jonathan)  problem   started with the issue of Boko Haram. I facilitated the  dialogue between  the former President and Boko Haram members’ families.

“We  went to Maiduguri to meet with their families  and  they presented  a list of suggestions,  which they thought  could end  the  crisis.

“We sat down with them in the mosque of the founder, Mohammed Yusuf.

“They brought  out pictures of their members and gave them  to Obasanjo; they brought several documents of military and police brutality against them and the members of their families,  where they were molested and killed.

“They gave them to Obasanjo. The former President then gave them his word and his honour that he would do everything to ensure  that justice  was  done.”

Sani continued saying, “The  same day we left Maiduguri in a helicopter and Obasanjo went back to Abuja and I knew very well that he was able to deliver such  (Boko Haram’s families’) demands.

“I think the late Andrew Azazi  played a key role in frustrating Obasanjo’s effort  because he, at that time, believed that the  security agencies would silence the group. And he misinformed the President to go to South Korea during a nuclear summit and tell the whole world that by June last year  the problem of Boko Haram would come to an end.’

Sani lamented the failure of the Jonathan administration to make a headway in the terrorism crisis saying, “They miscalculated because up till today the insurgency persists. As I am talking to you, violence is going on in Kano, Gombe and Maiduguri.

“From that point I have not seen any cordial relationship between Jonathan and Obasanjo.

“Thereafter the issue of Obasanjo’s resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party  Board of Trustee came up.  I believe that Obasanjo  discovered that he was  no longer  relevant and weighty in the party and government.

“His godson, Jonathan,  had  found his feet and created his own caucus. The PDP is such a party that always dances to the tune of an incumbent President.” And this is one of the biggest   problem of the party today.”